Cathodoluminescent flat-panel displays of the type in which a screen made up of a plurality of discrete elements of a luminescent material such as phosphor is scanned by an electron beam to illuminate selected areas of the screen at controlled intensities are well known. Moreover, the use of a gas discharge within a hollow cathode to provide a source of electrons for such displays is also well known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,094 which discloses a panel display utilizing a hollow cathode.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,483 discloses a display panel using a planar array of small dot-like gas-filled cells arranged in rows and columns and which are caused to glow selectively to provide a source of light which moves across the array of cells.